The Game of the Century between Donald Byrne and 13-year old Bobby Fischer on October 17, 1956, featured this opening, although arriving in the Grünfeld via a transposition of moves (using 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.d4 0-0 5.Bf4 d5).

The main line of the Grünfeld, the Exchange Variation (ECO codes D85–D89), is defined by the continuation 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4. Now White has an imposing looking centre – and the main continuation 5... Nxc3 6. bxc3 strengthens it still further. Black generally attacks White's centre with ...c5 and ...Bg7, often followed by moves such as ...cxd4, ...Bg4, and ...Nc6. White often uses his big centre to launch an attack against Black's king. One subvariation, frequently played by Karpov, including four games of his 1987 world championship match against Kasparov in Seville, Spain, is the Seville Variation, after 6...Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12.Bxf7+, long thought a poor move by theory, as the resultant light-square weakness had been believed to give Black more than enough compensation for the pawn.

White can develop his pieces in a number of ways in the Exchange Variation. For decades, theory held that the correct method of development was with Bc4 and Ne2, often followed by 0-0 and f4–f5, playing for a central breakthrough or kingside attack. It was generally thought that an early Nf3 was weak in the Exchange Variation because it allowed Black too much pressure on the centre with ...Bg4. In the late 1970s, however, Karpov, Kasparov and others found different methods to play the Exchange Variation with White, often involving an early Rb1 to remove the rook from the sensitive a1–h8 diagonal, as well as attempting to hinder the development of Black's queenside. Another, relatively recently developed system involves quickly playing Be3, Qd2, and Rc1 or Rd1 to fortify White's centre, remove White's rook from the diagonal, and possibly enable an early d5 push by White.

In bringing more pressure to bear against Black's central outpost on d5, White practically forces ...dxc4, thus gaining a central preponderance; however, in return, his queen will often be exposed as Black's queenside play unfolds in the middlegame. After 5... dxc4 6. Qxc4 0-0 7. e4, Black has several primary options:

In this line, favoured by Yasser Seirawan, after the nearly universal 5...Ne4, White may play 6.Bh4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 or 6.cxd5, with Black then opting for either 6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 Qxd5 or 6...Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6, though in the latter case, 7...c6 is sometimes tried. After 6.cxd5 Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6, White has 8.Qd2 exd5 9.Qe3+, with attacking chances, or the more usual 8.Nf3 exd5 (though the interpolation 8...h6 9.Nf3 exd5 is a significant alternative), after which play generally proceeds on lines analogous to the Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation, with a queenside minority attack by White (b2–b4–b5xc6), as Black aims for his traditional kingside play with ...f7–f5–f4 and, in this case, ...g6–g5.

For players who do not wish to take on the complexities of the Exchange Variation, the move 4. Bf4 is generally considered a safer continuation for White.[6] White opts for the initiative on the queenside with a smaller pawn center. In the main line (D82), play proceeds with 4...Bg7 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5, with White's choices at his seventh move being cxd5, Qb3, Qa4, or Rc1. Despite its reputation, in statistical databases this variation shows only a slightly higher percentage of White wins and draws, as opposed to the Exchange variation.[7][8] The variation is not often met in top-flight play today, its usage having declined significantly since its heyday in the 1930s.[citation needed]

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Grünfeld Gambit

In this variation, play may also continue 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0, which is known as the Grünfeld Gambit (ECO code D83). White can accept the gambit by playing 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Nxd5 Qxd5 8.Bxc7, or decline it with 6.Qb3 or 6.Rc1, to which Black responds with 6...c5.

Systems in which White delays the development of his queen's knight to c3 are known as the Neo-Grünfeld Defence (ECO code D70–D79); typical move orders are 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 or, more commonly, 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 d5 (the latter is known as the Kemeri Variation, shown in the diagram).